I took my 16-year-old cat Creamy to a local veterinarian for a red mark on the side of her face. She was examined by a vet and I was told her ailment was caused by some of her teeth and that arrangements should be made to have the bad teeth removed. The vet also increased her tapazole tablets dosage and put her on clavamox. At this time Creamy was eating well, including soft and dry food. Arrangements were made for her operation a week later. The vet who examined her was unavailable but another vet would operate.
On the 29th of April I received a call from the vet who would operate saying she would check Creamy’s thyroid levels before proceeding. Later the veterinarian phoned to say she was going ahead with the operation. I received another call from the vet stating that five teeth had been extracted from one side of the cat’s mouth and that they were turning her over to start on the other side. I asked how Creamy was doing and the vet said the cat was fine. I later phoned and was told that I could bring Creamy home at about 7:30 p.m. I suggested they give my cat a pain patch but was told a pain injection would suffice. 8 or 9 teeth were removed.
When I got home, I put Creamy in her favourite chair but she only wanted to hide under the sofa. Later that night I offered her food but to no avail; clearly her mouth was too sore. However, I did manage to give her some medication. After several calls to the hospital about Creamy not eating I was told to bring her in on Saturday to be force fed .The technician checked her mouth and said it was looking good. At the time, another veterinarian walked by and said she did have one site of infection and that clavamox was not her choice of antibiotic but decided not to change it at that time. I asked if clavamox contained amoxilin because she had not done well on that medication in the past. The veterinarian said it was a mixture and there was no note in her file about any reactions, but later it was admitted that there in fact was. I asked about a pain patch again and the cat was given one on May 1st. This made her more comfortable but she still could not eat.
The next day when I took Creamy in I was told again that her mouth was healing and there was no reason for her not to eat, but it was suggested that I discontinue giving her clavamox for 24 hours. On the following day when I took her in I said she still was not eating and I knew it was her mouth. However, the tech said it looked fine. Finally, the vet agreed to check Creamy’s mouth again. She came back and said there were now 3 pockets of infection that had been masked by the clavamox and that the cat should be admitted to the hospital. During this time Ii was surprised to learn that her teeth had been pulled by a technician. I was under the impression that a veterinarian had performed the operation.
Later I received a call from the vet suggesting that Creamy was an old cat and it could take 4 to 6 weeks for the infection to subside. Before the operation I was told that it would take 10 days to 2 weeks. She also said they were going to increase Creamy’s fluids and that they had changed her antibiotic (to which I replied they maybe should have done a week earlier). Some remark was made to the effect that they like to give the body time to take over. They had also decided to take her off the tatazole for one week; I was told this would not hurt her at all. I assumed this was done in order to make her hungry enough to eat. The veterinarian also gave the cat’s mouth a wash and recommended she stay overnight in the hospital. After 3 days I was told I could bring Creamy home because she had eaten some food. However, she had a discharge from her nose and eye that I was told to wipe with moist gauze. This was now Friday afternoon at 3pm and I was told to bring her back Monday. She seemed improved and ate little pieces of chicken from my hand. I continued the antibiotics and mouth wash as I had been instructed and tried to encourage her to eat. I was with her for the rest of that day. The next day in the morning she seemed a bit more snuffily but did manage to eat a little chicken. She had not eaten any of the food I had left for her at night.
At 12pm I boiled up some fish for Creamy and chopped it into tiny pieces. She drank some of the fish water but ate none of the fish. The rest of the afternoon I checked on her and had a steamer on for her. By then it was 3:30 p.m. and she seemed even more snuffly and had developed a wheeze. At this point I called the Veterinary hospital and was told I would be called later. Creamy slept for a while but kept fitfully waking to shake her head and try to catch her breath. Her breathing was getting noisier and I took her into a bathroom to steam her but it did not help much. All that seemed to help her was to carry her and walk her around with me. My call still had not been returned.
Finally I phoned another emergency hospital and explained the situation. I was told to bring Creamy in as soon as possible. The staff took my cat to assess her and I was told that vet would be with me shortly. I explained my situation regarding Creamy and he questioned me about her previous treatment. He seemed dubious about good results from any further treatments. He explained to me that her thyroid levels were very high, which was not surprising as she had been off her medication for 5 days. Her heartbeat was rapid and her mouth was badly infected. She was also extremely thin. The veterinarian felt sure my cat had had enough and we agreed not to put her through any more so she was euthanized. I was heart broken at all the pain and suffering my cat had been subjected to and feel her treatment was haphazard to say the least, I also feel extreme measures were taken with no consideration for her age and condition. The cost, beside the trauma to Creamy and myself, was $1,300 dollars.
